Despite some short-term improvements made in recent years, long-term debt challenges remain, and in the coming decades, the debt will squeeze budgetary resources that are vital to our economic success and competitiveness will be stymied. The COVID-19 pandemic and the legislation enacted in response created an additional set of issues, which need to be considered. The Treasury Department released a fiscal year (FY2020) end report showing that the deficit increased to $3.1trillion – three times more than the $984 billion deficit in FY2019. The national debt continues to climb at a staggering pace, reaching more than $27 trillion in October 2020.  A combination of recessions, response to the COVID-19 pandemic, defense budget growth, and tax cuts has raised the national debt-to-GDP ratio to record levels.